W. SQUASH | Bulldogs roll over Tigers, stay undefeated

Princeton posed no challenge for an undefeated Yale women’s squash team over the weekend.

The No. 2 Elis (12–0, 4–0 Ivy) took full advantage of a rusty, disappointed No. 4 Tiger (6–3, 3–2), who lost two consecutive matches last week after returning to play from a seven week hiatus. Last year, the Bulldogs fell to the Tigers 5–4. However, in the contest this year, Yale did not give an inch to Princeton and easily defeated them 7–2.

“Princeton was coming off a 5–4 loss to Penn,” Greer said. “Earlier in the season we had beaten Penn 5–4, so we knew the match against Princeton would be close.”

Yale won its first three matches and would not let go of that early margin for the remainder of their contest against Princeton.

The Bulldogs saw strong play from freshmen Millie Tomlinson ’14, Kimberly Hay ’14, and Gwendoline Tilghman ’14. At the No. 3 position, Tomlinson beat out Elizabeth Eyre in straight sets. Hay took two of the first games, but dropped the third set. But she responded well and won the fourth game easily, winning the match, 3–1. Tilghman won her match at the No. 8 spot, 3–0.

“The freshman are handling the pressure superbly well,” Greer said. “Gwen and [Millie] have not lost a match all season.”

Yale’s Caroline Reigeluth ’11 and Princeton’s Alex Sawin had a tightly contested match that went to five games. After dropping the opening two games, Reigeluth came storming back to win the next three games and took the match 3–2.

The only two losses the Bulldogs faced were at the No. 2 and No. 7 positions.

“We prepared well and completely dominated the match on Saturday,” captain Logan Greer ’11 said. “We were very close to winning the two matches we lost.”

Despite losing in straght games, Sarah Toomey’s ’11 match at the No. 2 position was closer than the score showed as she lost a few critical points that turned the match in favor of her opponent.

Katie Ballaine ’13 lost her match 2–3, including a loss in the final game 13–15. Only a few points separated the players over the course of the entire match and a few unlucky plays made the difference. Prior to their match against Princeton, Yale had won its last 36 consecutive matches.

“We have been working for this win since August,” Ballaine said. “That being said, it’s given us the confidence for an Ivy Championship.”

The Elis are just three wins away from an undefeated season and two conference wins from the Ivy League title. The team will take on No. 11 Middlebury on Tuesday and No. 10 Brown on Saturday, finishing up the regular season against Harvard on Feb. 12.

“We need to continue to push one another and we need to practice performing in pressured situations,” Greer said. “We are focusing exclusively on our Harvard match, which is two weeks away.”